Harry Potter 1. Happy Halloween

Disclaimer: I wish I own Harry Potter but since I don't I ask you this: don't sue me!  
  
Family Secrets  
  
Harry couldn't help anymore. Happiness is just building up inside him. Harry laughed.  
  
Lily Potter looked at her son. She smiled also. "Did you have a nice Halloween, Harry?"  
  
The youngest potter laughed out loud again, but this time it was joined by Lily's niece, Samantha.  
  
Lily joined in the laughter. She knew that the night could not go any better. "Well Sammy, how do you like your visit?"  
  
The small girl replied with a smile. She loved her aunt's family. She most especially loved Harry. For a year and a quarter, she felt very close to him, and he felt that too.  
  
The laughter was interrupted by a shadowy figure that burst in the nursery door. "How did you get here? Did Peter--?"  
  
The shadow spoke, "Hmm, smart girl. You never were the dumb type."  
  
Lily's voice was trembling now. "Why are you here?" she said while putting an invisibility cloak over the children in the crib.  
  
"You know why I'm here"  
  
"Where's James? What did you do to him?"  
  
"He's downstairs-in terrible pain."  
  
Under the cloak, Harry couldn't help getting out of it. He knew that something bad is going to happen. "Arry, no." Sammy said. She held on to Harry's foot as he got up from under the cloak. The shadow spoke again. "Oh, how sweet. It's the smallest Potter. What a shame it is that he won't be anymore." He pointed his wand at Harry and began to say a few words. "Avada Ke-"  
  
"No!!" Lily shouted. She jumped in front of the crib just as the shadow finished his curse.  
  
"-davra!!" the shadow finished and a bright green light filled the room.  
  
Meanwhile, Harry Potter woke up from a bittersweet dream. 


	2. The Birthday Gift

Harry Potter looked around his room. When he finally found his glasses, he immediately looked at the clock. 7:30 A.M... He began to wonder if that dream was really a memory. He found himself sort of sad, but then looked outside. The sun was just rising, but Harry knew he had to start to get ready.  
  
He got out of bed, took off his pajamas, and put some newly laundered clothes on. Just as he was about to get out of his room, his owl Hedwig came flying through the window.  
  
"Finally, you're here. I thought I was going to go to Bulgaria without you. Did you get the letter?" he said.  
  
Hedwig put one foot out. The foot has a little piece of paper on it. Harry took out the piece of paper and began to read it:  
  
  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Hello! I just hope Hedwig gave this to you on time. It would be pretty useless if it didn't. Anyway, just writing to you because mum wants me to remind you that the portkey will leave at 10 o'clock. It will arrive in front of the Krums' house. Hermione, me and my family will be waiting for you there. See you in Bulgaria!  
  
Ron  
  
Harry finished the letter and folded it into his pocket. He then opened his school trunk and took out his Quidditch tickets. He stared at it with amazement. He couldn't believe that Hermione has given it as his birthday present. His birthday wasn't even until a couple of days from now. He couldn't believe that Bulgaria is playing against America on his birthday.  
  
After making sure that everything was really happening, Harry went downstairs and made himself breakfast. Later, he brushed his teeth, made his bed, and made sure that he packed everything.  
  
By the time he finished, his uncle and aunt woke up. He ignored them, just as they did to him.  
  
A couple of weeks ago, Harry got his tickets and portkey from Hermione. When his uncle found out, he was so happy that at time he even forgot Harry was still there. He never had his nephew out of his house at such a long time. Sometimes, Harry could've sworn his uncle was actually-skipping to work.  
  
When everything was finished, he looked at his watch. 9:35. He got up, and started to bring his trunk down. He never realized how heavy it really was. When it was time to bring it downstairs, Harry began to imagine himself getting squished by the trunk. Gathering all of his might, Harry took one of the handles and began to make his way down. A few moments later, Harry felt like the trunk was actually lighter. He then heard footsteps behind him. He looked behind and saw his cousin Dudley actually helping him.  
  
Harry was shocked. He never knew that his cousin was this nice. 'But then again,' he thought 'he might just want me to get out of the house sooner.'  
  
When the two boys finally got the trunk out into the yard, Dudley began to run inside the house. When Harry ran after him, he was surprised that Dudley was carrying his luggage. Not wanting to ask why, Harry just took Hedwig in her cage and began to go to the yard.  
  
"Thanks." Harry said.  
  
He looked at his watch again. It was 9:57. Harry searched his pockets and took out an old, rusty key. He held it up and looked at it. He then tied a rope on Hedwig's cage and his trunk. Then he padlocked the handles of his luggage to the handles of his trunk. He looked at the time and saw 9:59 and 30 seconds. He looked at the house again and said to Hedwig "Be careful, this is going to be a rough ride." Just as he finished his sentence, Harry felt a tug on his whole body and gripped on to his owl's cage. 


	3. The Krum Mansion

Harry fell down to his knees. He shook his head and looked at his owl.  
  
"Hey, Hedwig. Are you fine?" he asked. The snowy owl cooed in reply.  
  
"Harry! You're here!" cried a familiar voice. It was one of his best friends, Ron Weasly. "Come on; let me help you with that." He untied the rope and took Harry's luggage.  
  
"Thanks. Where is everybody?" Harry said as he made his way to the Krums' house.  
  
"They're just finishing breakfast. You hungry?  
  
"No thanks. I ate before I came down here."  
  
"Good. 'Cause you don't want to be in there."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Long story. And don't make me tell it to you."  
  
"Okay, I won't." Harry said. It wasn't until then that he noticed that he was facing a mansion. He looked at it with amazement in his eyes.  
  
"Harry, are you okay?" asked Ron.  
  
"Yeah, I think I'm going to be just fine." He could feel a grin surfacing up to his face. He knew that this would make Ron wonder, so he tried to distract. "So, where's Hermione?"  
  
"Oh, her? She's off probably with Krum talking about the birds and the flowers and all of the other couple stuff."  
  
Harry could see that Ron was getting tense because of it. He could see his face is getting as red as his hair. Just in the nick of time, Hermione came in from the garden.  
  
"Oh, hello Harry! How's your trip."  
  
"I still can't get used to it." they both hugged while they greeted. "C'mon, let's get these things up to your room so you could get the chance to meet Viktor's family."  
  
"Sure. Let's go."  
  
  
  
Harry went downstairs after unpacking. He went into the living room and sat down. But at that very moment five figures came inside. Harry stood up, for some reason worried, but then let a little breath of relief when he realized it was Viktor Krum with Hermione and his family.  
  
"Hello Harry." said the tall young man standing next to Harry's friend. "Nice to see you again." He held out his hand.  
  
"Nice to see you again, too Viktor." Harry said. He shook his hand.  
  
"Harry, I vould like you to meet my family. This is my father, Georg Krum."  
  
Harry shook a man slightly taller than Viktor. He could see that he was also a Quidditch player.  
  
"This is my mother, Natalia Krum." and he shook the hand of this tall, thin woman. She is very pretty, but yet he could sense that she was also a strong woman.  
  
"And this is my little brother, Vladimir." Harry smiled to a small boy wrapped around Viktor's mother. He couldn't have been at the most eight years old, but the expression on his face looked like it belonged to a teenager.  
  
"Thank you very much Mr. and Mrs. Krum for letting me stay at your house." Harry said.  
  
"It is fine dear Harry. Anyvun who is a friend of my son's is velcome here anytime." spoke the patriarch of the family.  
  
"Vell, I think I smell something really good in the kitchen. I think that it almost time for lunch. Viktor, call everyone, it is time to eat!" 


	4. America versus Bulgaria

Things have been really weird the past few days. First of all, Ron keeps complaining about how Hermione and Krum are too close together. Meanwhile, Hermione keeps complaining about how pigheaded Ron is about her "relationship" with Viktor. Apparently, the only thing that they could agree on is to sit on opposite ends of the room and sit in silence.  
  
But today is Harry's birthday and things are looking up. Today they are going to the Quidditch semi-finals. Everybody got dressed up to go to the game. The twins, Fred and George, came with their parents, along with Ginny, by Floo Powder early in the morning. They had their breakfast and by 10:00, they were all ready to go to the stadium.  
  
The Weasleys, Hermione and Harry arrived by portkey and crash landed onto the ground. "Still can't get used to that" said Ron. When they got up, they couldn't believe their eyes. All around them were the colors red, white and blue. Hats, clothes, balloons, posters and even people were in those three colors. "Americans. You just can't figure them out." said Mr. Weasley. "Well kids, we have about an hour before the game starts. Just roam around and be at the entrance at about 10:55. Come on Molly, Ginny."  
  
"Harry, Ron, I'm going to go look for Viktor, okay?" asked Hermione.  
  
"Fine." said Ron with a disgruntled look on his face. "Tell him to break a leg-or two."  
  
Harry pulled him as Hermione left. "What is up with you?"  
  
"Look, let's just get something to eat. Or let me buy you something. I have money. Fred and George have been paying me to keep me from telling mum that all of their joke stuff is at Dean's" The two boys looked over at the twins over at the concession stand. They smiled, both imagining Mrs. Weasley's face if she ever finds out. "They said that the moment they leave school, they are going to create their own business."  
  
Fred and George walked to them, each carrying a stick with something golden- brown on top of it. "Hey you guys," said George "do you want some?"  
  
"What is that?" asked Ron.  
  
"They call it a corndog." said George. "They say it has a hotdog inside and deep-fried batter all around it."  
  
"And it's absolutely delicious!" Fred exclaimed, trying not to spit food all over them. When he finished and stared at the stick and said "I'm going back for more!" and took off.  
  
"Well, we might as well buy some." said Ron.  
  
"Thanks." Harry replied.  
  
Ron walked to the stand looking inside his pouch. Suddenly, he slams against this girl with black hair who's trying to write something in her notebook.  
  
"Oh! I'm terribly sorry." said Ron in surprise.  
  
"No, no it's my fault." said the girl with an American accent.  
  
"It was really my fault." Ron picked up the notebook.  
  
"Oh, well. Whatever. As long as nobody's hurt. You're not hurt are you?"  
  
"No, I'm fine. Here, I think this is yours." He handed her the notebook.  
  
"Thank you. Hey, you're English aren't you?" the girl asked as she took the object.  
  
"Yes, yes I am."  
  
"That's cool. I'm Sam by the way." The girl then turned her head around and back again. "I think my mom's calling me. Hey, maybe I'll see you later." She starts but then stops and turns to Ron when he began to say something  
  
"It's Ron. My name's Ron."  
  
"See ya Ron!" She turned and ran into the crowd.  
  
Ron walked back to Harry in disbelief. He met a girl and he actually knows her name.  
  
"Hey Ron! We saw that!" shouted Fred, mouth still full of food.  
  
"You guys saw that?" asked Ron, his face was as red as his hair.  
  
"Of course we saw it, little brother. We were right here." said George.  
  
"Who was that girl anyway?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh, she's Sam. And she's an American." Ron replied.  
  
Harry felt like he needed to know more. "Do you know anything else?"  
  
"Nope, sorry. That's it."  
  
"Oh." Harry said with disappointment. It was like he was trying to find out information on an old friend.  
  
"Wait. She did have green eyes, I could tell you that."  
  
"Really? How interesting."  
  
"What's interesting?"  
  
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."  
  
"Well, we still have 15 minutes to go. Why don't we get our food?"  
  
"Sure why don't we." Harry said, still thinking about that mysterious girl.  
  
***  
  
"Hermione, I have to go now. They are calling the players" said Viktor Krum.  
  
"Well, good luck." Hermione said. She starts to walk, but then Krum grabs her by the arm.  
  
"Vait." he says.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I love you." he said with a smile on his face.  
  
Hermione waited a second. "I love you too, Ron."  
  
Krum stared in disbelief. He slowly let go of her arm and started walking inside the player's entrance. Hermione, still frozen at that moment couldn't believe what she has just said.  
  
She walked; then she ran. Everyone was already there when she arrived. She stood beside Ginny and avoided to look at Ron.  
  
"Is something wrong?" asked the youngest Weasley.  
  
"Viktor said 'I love you' to me."  
  
"So, what's the matter?"  
  
"I didn't say 'I love you too, Viktor' back" Hermione said. Her mind wandered off for the rest of the day, thinking of what she has done.  
  
~0~0~0~  
  
A/N: I know that it's been four chapters already, but I promise that by the next one that main plot will finally show. 


	5. The Aftermath

"And with Smith catching the snitch, America goes to the Quidditch Cup in Spain in two weeks." the announcer said when the game was over.  
  
The crowd cheered loudly. Down on the fields, you could see the cheerleaders ranting on their last routine.  
  
"It is sort of weird." Ron said. "Witches dressed in uniforms doing flips and turns and without magic!"  
  
"Hey Ron, did you notice anything weird about Hermione?" asked Harry while all of the audience was trying to get out of the stadium.  
  
"Yeah, she's been real quiet lately. She didn't even bother to tell us which was worse-veelas or cheerleaders." He stared at her, wanting to talk to her, know what had happened. "I just hope she's okay."  
  
On the way back, nobody spoke. It seemed like Hermione's silence was caught by everyone. The game was over, Bulgaria lost, and it was like sadness was upon everyone on what was supposed to be Harry's best day.  
  
When they got back to the mansion, dinner was ready for them. Hermione sat in between Harry and Ginny, away from Krum. She barely touched her food, silent throughout, and only smiled when a cake came floating out of the kitchen and everyone sung "Happy Birthday" until he blew out the candles.  
  
After dinner, Ron said goodbye to his family; went upstairs and changed and then went to bed. Harry caught up with Hermione just after the Weasleys left.  
  
"Hermione, are you okay?"  
  
"Yes Harry, I'm fine." Harry could sense that something was wrong by the tone of her voice.  
  
"Are you sure? Because during the game you were really...Are you sure you're okay?"  
  
"Yes. I'm fine. Goodnight Harry."  
  
He left and went to bed. He couldn't help it, but he kept feeling that something was wrong and it had something to do with Krum.  
  
***  
  
Hermione sat back in her chair, looking at her finished holiday homework. She had finished them a week ago, so excited to go to Bulgaria to visit Viktor Krum, the boy that she had met a few months ago. It was new, having a boyfriend and all, but she wanted to know how it felt, to have someone of whom you like, like you back. Her muggle parents felt awkward at first, having their daughter like a boy; an older boy. But they knew that they could trust her, they knew she was responsible and she could take care of herself. They knew she was safe among Harry and Ron.  
  
Ron Weasley was the boy who always got in her skin. The two didn't even got along until Ron saved her from a troll on their first year. But even after then, the two always fought. It was like they communicated that way.  
  
There were two knocks on the door. Hermione stood up and opened it. It was Krum.  
  
"Come on in."  
  
"Thanks." He took a seat on the chair while she sat on the bed.  
  
"I know that you're here because of what I've said earlier. I didn't mean it you know."  
  
"Of course you did."  
  
"No I didn't. Look, it was a mistake. I know it was a mistake because-"  
  
"You love him. I heard it. And so did you. And the way you said it, I knew it came from the heart. I love you Hermione, I do. But I know you love him." He got up, walked toward her, kissed her on the head and walked out of the room.  
  
She lied on the bed asking her herself 'Do I really like him? But why? Does he like me too?' For the first time in all of her life, Hermione Granger didn't know the answers to the questions. 


End file.

Harry Potter, Romance